Mayor Ray Nagin has trumpeted the post-Katrina recovery as a chance for New Orleans to become the model of a "green" city. But his 2008 budget proposal omits a service that many consider the backbone of urban environmentalism: curbside recycling.

City Sanitation Director Veronica White said last week that despite a pledge she made last year that City Hall would resume recycling collections in 2008, the city doesn't have the money to make it happen.

"At this time in the city's recovery, it would be more fiscally sound to address illegal dumping and the collection and disposal of storm debris," White told the City Council's Sanitation and Environmental Enforcement Committee on Friday. "We ask citizens to use the resources available until we can implement a recycling program that will benefit everyone."

Hurricane Katrina forced the city to cancel its contract for weekly pickup of materials such as glass, newspapers and plastic. Since then, City Hall has sponsored five "drop-off days" for residents to take recyclable materials to specified sites.

Several private groups also offer collection or pickup of recyclables in New Orleans, though most charge pickup fees steeper than the $1 per month that residents used to pay the city for the service.

White told the committee that tens of thousands of pounds of recyclables have been collected at the drop-off sites, not to mention the large amount of storm debris that has been reused or recycled during the past two years. She said Katrina is "the first national disaster that has ever recycled any material from the disaster."

But Leslie March, chairwoman of the Sierra Club's local chapter, told council members that the city should reinstate curbside service so residents can resume recycling as part of their daily routine.

"We really do need to bring back the blue bins," she said, referring to the plastic containers that the city provided to residents for recycling. "One of the things that's happening in this city is that we're unlearning the good habits we had for recycling."

While lauding the city's efforts to operate drop-off sites, March said it's unreasonable to expect all residents to store a month's worth of newspapers, bottles, cans and other items at their homes, then cart them across town for disposal. The drop-off program also excludes thousands of residents who rely on public transportation, she said.

"This is a city where people didn't leave (for Katrina) because they didn't have a car," she said.

White said she is "not against recycling." The problem, she said, is money. Whereas the city paid recycling contractor BFI $4.5 million a year before Katrina, the price tag now could reach $8 million a year because of higher labor costs, White has said.

Nagin proposes to spend $53.1 million next year to run the Sanitation Department, including $9 million for landfill disposal and $31.3 million for trash collection, most of it handled by private contractors. Before Katrina, the city paid Waste Management about $18 million annually for regular trash service.

The mayor wants to spend another $1.5 million to hire a separate vendor to collect storm debris, even though the city's two main garbage contracts call for pickup of "unlimited bulky waste," including "demolition material." City officials are not requiring Richard's Disposal and Metro Disposal to pick up storm debris.

White said that, in light of other pressing needs, the city cannot afford recycling, too.

"I need to have money to recycle," she said.

Councilwoman Shelley Midura said that in view of the proposed financing hikes for other sanitation services, the absence of curbside recycling in Nagin's budget demonstrates that the mayor hasn't made it a priority.

"If (recycling) isn't funded by the budget request that the mayor put forth, then it isn't important to the administration," Midura said. "When is it going to become important to the administration?"

Midura said she realizes that the city's recycling program, like most across the country, never drew enough participation to generate sufficient savings in landfill disposal costs to cover its own expenses. But she said the city still should provide the service because of its environmental benefits, even if City Hall has to subsidize it.

Council President Arnie Fielkow suggested that New Orleans team up with Jefferson Parish, which plans to solicit bids early next year to restart curbside recycling. He said a joint recycling contract covering both parishes could cost less per household.

Fielkow said he will raise the issue at a meeting of the Regional Planning Commission before Jefferson puts out its bid request.

Michelle Krupa can be reached at mkrupa@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3312.